United Airlines expects fuel prices to stay high in the long-term, its CE said on Monday. Scott Kirby, speaking to reporters in Doha, also said that based on current prices the airline's fuel bill would total $12b this year.<br/>
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The head of Germany airline group Lufthansa said infrastructure and staff problems that have been causing European travel delays are unlikely to ease during the summer and said he could not rule our further flight cancellations. CE Carsten Spohr also said he had written to Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi to express concern about delays in the sale of ITA Airways and telling him the successor carrier to Alitalia “needs a partner fast”. <br/>
Turkish Airlines is considering joint ventures and initial public offerings for its cargo business and regional carrier as it weighs up options to grow both internally and through deals, the chairman of Turkey's national airline said. The airline also plans to participate in international bond markets, including issuing Eurobonds, to finance future investments and growth, Ahmet Bolat told Reuters. The company was looking at strategies for its subsidiaries Turkish Cargo and regional carrier Anadolujet which flies to Northern Cyprus, Europe, Western Asia and the Middle East. "Among those, we are evaluating different strategies such as joint ventures and IPOs", Bolat said, adding this could include a plan to turn AnadoluJet into a no-frills carrier. "In addition to our main brand Turkish Airlines, we're also planning to renew AnadoluJet's fleet with the new-generation narrow body jets." Turkish Airlines announced last month it had decided to buy six A350-900 type passenger aircraft from Airbus. It has received 9 jets since the beginning of this year, bringing its total fleet to 377, making it ninth in fleet size among global airlines, Bolat said. The company is looking to expand in the air cargo and logistical industries, he added.<br/>
Air New Zealand expects to reach 75% of its pre-COVID-19 international capacity and more than 100% of pre-pandemic domestic capacity by the end of 2022, as travel demand recovers, its CEO Greg Foran said Monday. The New Zealand national carrier is operating at 50% of international and nearly 100% of pre-pandemic domestic capacity, Foran said on the sidelines of an airline industry gathering in Doha. “At this stage, there’s some pent up demand that we’ve seen. People wanting to not just visit friends and relatives, but increasingly business people want to get out and be connected. So I’m very encouraged by that,” he said. “But I am cautious about what may happen should the price of fuel continue to stay over double what it was pre-COVID.” Air NZ is managing to cover increased fuel costs through fares that are averaging around 20% to 25% higher than pre-pandemic levels, Foran said, though that could change if fuel prices rise again. Qantas Airways said Sunday that it might need to reduce domestic capacity further to help recover rising fuel costs, but Foran said there were not yet any plans to do that at Air New Zealand. Earlier this month, Air New Zealand said its loss in the 12 months ending June 30 would be narrower than previously forecast due to a rebound in passenger demand as restrictions eased.<br/>